The Almanac

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Venus, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto. The evening stars are Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include John Augustus Roebling, designer of the Brooklyn Bridge, in 1806; former U.S. President George H.W. Bush in 1924 (age 82); singer Vic Damone in 1928 (age 78:); Anne Frank, whose diary told of hiding from the Nazis in occupied Holland, in 1929; author Rona Jaffe in 1932; actor/singer Jim Nabors in 1933 (age 73); jazz musician Chick Corea in 1941 (age 65); sportscaster Marvin "Marv" Albert in 1943 (age 63); actor Timothy Busfield in 1957 (age 49); and actress Sherry Stringfield ("E.R.") in 1967 (age 39).

On this date in history:

In 1939, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was dedicated at Cooperstown, N.Y.

In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not outlaw inter-racial marriages.

In 1971, Tricia Nixon, daughter of U.S. President Richard Nixon, married Edward Finch Cox in the first wedding in the Rose Garden of the White House.

In 1979, Bryan Allen, 26, pedaled the 70-pound Gossamer Albatross 22 miles across the English Channel for the first human-powered flight across that body of water.

In 1982, an estimated 700,000 people gathered in New York's Central Park to call for world nuclear disarmament.

In 1986, the South African government, faced with rising black unrest, declared a nationwide state of emergency.

In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that white workers who claim to be treated unfairly as a result of affirmative action programs can sue for remedies under civil rights legislation.

In 1990, the Russian republic's legislature, under Boris Yeltsin, passed a radical declaration of sovereignty, proclaiming Russia's laws take precedence over those of the central Soviet government in the republic's territory.

In 1991, the Russian republic had its first direct presidential elections with Boris Yeltsin winning. The event is celebrated these days in Russia as a national holiday known as Independence Day.

In 1992, amid extremely tight security and criticism of his administration's stand on environmental issues, U.S. President George H.W. Bush addressed the Earth Summit. He urged rich nations to meet by year's end to outline specific action on a climate treaty.

In 1993, U.S. helicopters and gunships destroyed four of Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid's arms depots, one week after his forces allegedly killed 23 Pakistani members of the U.N. peacekeeping forces in a series of firefights.

In 1994, special Whitewater counsel Robert Fiske took sworn depositions from U.S. President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. It was believed to be the first time a sitting president responded directly to questions in a legal case relating to his official conduct.

In 1999, Texas Gov. George W. Bush announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.

In 2000, 50 years after the Korean War began, the leaders of North and South Korea met in Pyongyang for the first series of talks.

In 2002, more than one dozen people who claimed to have been sexually abused by priests met with Roman Catholic Church leaders from across the United States to describe their experiences and demand support for a zero tolerance plan for abusers.

In 2003, television news pioneer David Brinkley, one half of the legendary Huntley-Brinkley evening news team and host of the long-running Sunday public affairs program "This Week," died at his home in Houston. He was 82.

Also in 2003, at least 70 Iraqis were killed in a U.S. attack on a terrorist camp near Saddam Hussein's hometown.

In 2004, Paul Johnson, an American employed by Lockheed Martin Corp., was kidnapped by a terror group in Saudi Arabia.

Also in 2004, gunmen shot and killed an Iraqi interim deputy foreign minister, the second such attack in a week on an Iraqi government official in Baghdad.

In 2005, Time magazine reported a secret document showing the use of pressure tactics in the interrogation of a suspected al-Qaida leader by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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